Selfie Sticks Are Getting Banned All Over the Place

The latest place to ban selfie sticks are US music festivals, two of which have put the items on lists of "prohibited items," following in the footsteps of UK events. Coachella, in Palm Springs, CA, starts on April 10 and that event has banned them all together, calling them "narsisstics." And they've been put on the restricted list at Lollapalooza in Chicago this summer. Supporters of the ban say they block the view for other concert goers. Selfie sticks have also been put on the no-go list at museums across the country, from the Hirshorn in Washington DC to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Museum operators see the issue two-fold: the people behind the camera aren't paying attention and can hurt themselves or damage priceless artwork. The one thing that all of these groups and and organizers understand is the importance of social media. All of the articles covering this issue highlight comments from the banning parties saying that they know full well that people love to take selfies. And certainly they know it benefits their groups to have people sharing info about all the cool things happening where they're snapping photos. But even when something is popular, organizers -- and that includes PRs -- have to feel confident setting guidelines. There's a prevailing image of publicists as these clipboard-clutching ogres who make it difficult for people to get through the door and to the party. But acting responsibly for clients and guests means laying some ground rules for maximum fun. All of the positive social media activity can very quickly get drowned out by complaints if one oblivious person with a selfie stick starts hitting people in the head and ruining a dozen other people's view. And just so we don't sound like Luddites, here's a video starring Serena Williams that gives us one huge reason why a GoPro is a good thing. Image via Shutterstock

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Selfie Sticks Are Getting Banned All Over the Place

Sometimes you have to set rules.

Tonya Garcia

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Tonya Garcia